Liam Fox says Britain should stop apologising for its history and forge closer relations with countries beyond the EU

Shadow Defence Secretary Liam Fox has given an interview to today's Sunday Express in which he lambasts the Labour Government for failing to pursue  relationships with certain countries around the world due to "colonial guilt".

He says:

“I’m really fed up with these liberal revisionist historians who want us to feel bad about everything that our country has ever done. Believing in ourselves and trusting in ourselves is a pretty good start in a country that wanted to make a better go of its future. Labour has suffered from such a strong case of colonial guilt that they cannot see the strength we have as a country in being able to form strong relations with different parts of the globe. If you go to a lot of countries, you can see where there is a strong affection for the United Kingdom that we could tap into.”

“We have in the last 13 years not leveraged these relationships in any way or shape or form to anything like the level that we could have. Rather than to apologise for everything in our history, we should take a bit of pride in our own history and our own conventions and our own convictions and start to look at the positive aspects which give us clout in the world and which give us respect and utilise them properly.”

He specifically cited Commonwealth states such as Australia, New Zealand and India - as well as Saudi Arabia - as examples of countries with which the UK ought to have closer defence links. But he is resolute that defence must remain a sovereign issue:

“Defence must be a sovereign issue. We cannot allow defence of the UK ever to be decided by a supernational body like the EU. Unless you’re willing to fund and fight, you’re not in the top group of allies which leave only one country in Europe which is a strong military partner for the UK – France. Our security lies in our own hands, and it’s best enhanced by a strong bilateral relationship with the US – as long as the Americans understand that we are a partner, and not a supplicant – and France.”

Later in the interview, he asserts that the armed forces are "our most valued possession" and talks about the need for a root and branch overhaul of the MoD. Read it all here.

Jonathan Isaby